Puppy Put Down for Having 'Unknown Demons' at San Antonio Shelter, Woman May Press Charges

An animal lover in San Antonio, Texas may be seeking legal action after a 12-week puppy she gave to a local shelter was euthanized for having "demons."

Elaine Buchhorn was devastated when she received news recently that the 12-week-old Chihuahua-Dachshund mix she had fostered for a month had been euthanized by the Humane Society of New Braunfels, near San Antonio. Buchhorn says the puppy, who she named Baby George, was sweet and docile, so much so that she allowed it to play around her young granddaughter and two other dogs. Her son had reportedly found the puppy near his apartment and taken it to his mother, who has helped take care of young animals before.

Buchhorn had fostered the puppy for a month and tried to find it a home, but when she was unable to she brought the puppy to the humane society with the hope they could find the animal a home. She tells local WOAI-TV that she then learned from the shelter on Oct. 14, three days after taking the puppy there, that the dog had been put down because he had "demons" and was showing aggression toward employees, even biting one employee.

"They had posted they were sad they had to put this puppy down it was filled with demons and showed aggression," Buchhorn told the local media station. The post was reportedly written by a board member at the shelter and uploaded to Facebook last week, but it has since been deleted.

Buchhorn added to My San Antonio that the Facebook post read something along the lines of: "The pup is now free, free from whatever unknown demons were causing the aggression."

Billie Zercher, executive director of the Humane Society, told WOAI-TV that the shelter's policy is that it cannot put dogs up for adoption who exhibit aggression.

"It did go after one of our employees. The employee left it alone, because it is a younger animal we wanted to give it some time to relax, went back a second time and it did try to bite her again. It was showing aggression," Zercher explained. Zercher added that the shelter stands by its decision to put the puppy to sleep, saying: "Under our shelter policies, anything that shows aggression can't be put up for adoption."

Buchhorn says she may pursue legal recourse against the shelter for unlawfully killing an animal. Another local dog lover, Patrick Greene, reportedly filed a complaint with the local New Braunfels police seeking an investigation into the incident.

Greene told My San Antonio that those working at the shelter should have been more forgiving of the animal because he was just a puppy and still learning how to socialize, saying if the puppy "does get a little aggressive, you use a low, firm voice and say 'no.' You don't kill him.'"